First Day Observations

First of all, let me just say that the caffeine withdrawal has been much worse this year than I remember it being before.  My head started hurting at about 5 PM yesterday and is just now beginning to feel better.  I just keep reminding myself that it is worth it.

My major realization yesterday was that I have been spending so much of my time centered around food that when that component was cut back dramatically by giving up between meal snacking and desserts, I found myself sitting around bored yesterday.  It wasn't that I was hungry, though there were moments when it felt that way.  It was more that I didn't know what else to do with myself...so I did more housework.  In short, I was more productive, which means that my wife will definitely like this Lenten experience.

I can't help but wonder, though, how much my constant snacking and filling time with food obscured the times when I could have been listening for God.  How many times have I missed God's voice because I wanted another cookie or another glass of Mt. Dew?  I am excited about this practice and am looking forward to giving some of that "food time" to the practice of listening for God.

When it comes to the Bible reading, the first day's reading was Genesis 1-27.  As I read it, I was struck by how often God responded to people who were not "special" according to the covenant.  God hears the prayers of Hagar for Ishmael and promises to take care of Ishmael even though the promise would not be fulfilled through him.  God hears the prayers of Abimelech - a king who had taken Abraham's wife into the palace because Abraham had pretended his wife was really his sister - even though Abimelech is "outside" the promise to Abraham.  Abimelech even prevails upon God with the prayer, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?" (Genesis 20:3).

Usually, the Old Testament is viewed as the story of God and the Jews, with everyone else being excluded and/or punished for not being chosen.  I get a different picture from reading the first half of Genesis - a picture in which God cares for all of creation, even going so far as to say that the covenant with Abraham is not for Abraham or Abraham's descendants alone, but that "all peoples on earth will be blessed" through Abraham (Genesis 12:3).

I like the idea of worshiping a God who includes.